Snapseed for iPad from Niksoftware

[Dougg]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I have an iPad and love it. In my view it's a great media consumer but not so great at producing it. As to digital photo files, I think it's fine for viewing and sorting JPEGs but not for the kind of processing that C1 or LR can do. There's still reason to keep the computer!

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[fnf]

I agree with Dougg. The iPad is a great "in the field" aid. Now I have successfully loaded PhotoRaw the viewing of DNG files is all I and probably most of us need. How did they turn out, which are keepers etc. I never develop any DNG until a good time has past after taking the photos, I like to re-visit with a fresh eye, so to speak. What looks good at the time may not look as good later on and some files that you think second string may turn out as your best of that day. Its happened before. But I suppose a person needed to set a deadline in the field and post process to email off may need to do it on an iPad, but again that is usually done and agreed with the publisher. Always back up files if away for a period of time especially straight out of camera (OOC) and never process straight after, is my maxim. fnf

http://www.farnorthfocus.co.uk

[Red Dot Fever]

There was only one review for the latest version when I looked earlier this evening, and that said that the app only used the embedded jpeg.

 

So no actual RAW processing.

 

This is straight from the horses mouth

 

 

Dear Ben,

 

Thank you for contacting Nik Software.

 

Snapseed does have the ability to read and edit a Raw file if directly imported onto the iPad through a camera connector kit. However, Snapseed can only output/save enhanced images as a JPEG file type at this time. So although Snapseed can read RAW files, you will only be able to save the image as a JPEG for the final output.

 

If you have any further questions, please reply to this email or call our Customer Service Department toll free at 1-888-284-4085 (+1-619-725-3150 outside of the US). Our office hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm PST.

 

Best Regards,

Mani

___________________

Mani Salazar

 

Nik Software, Inc. | Photography first®

 

7588 Metropolitan Drive | San Diego, CA 92108

Tel - 619.725.3150 | Fax - 619.725.3151

supportus@niksoftware.com | Nik Software Inc.

 

To learn more about our award winning Nik Software products, please visit Sedo Domain Parking - Sedo GmbH click on the Learn tab for online Lessons and free Webinars

 

ref:00D8bfZy.5008G842j:ref

----------------------

Your question/comment:

 

Hi, I am trying to obtain a definitive answer regarding editing RAW files in Snapseed. I realize you can transfer RAW files to the ipad in Snapseed using the camera conector kit. What I am unsure about is can you edit and use all Snapseeds features and filters using the actual RAW file?

 

Or does Snapseed only allow you to process the jpeg file taken from the RAW file?

 

This an important question as you can process so much more information from a RAW file than you can from a jpeg file

Kind regards

Ben

[Photon42]

They don't tell you the supprted RAW formats - statement was somewhat like "what Apple supports natively in iOS". Find it funny that a SW company cannot just list the supported formats. M9 DNG doesn't work here. I've mailed them about that when Snapseed was just out. See my earlier post.

[ldhrads]

Apparently, after speaking to Mani myself, Leica DNG is not currently supported, but other DNG formats are...

[elgenper]

I´d say: don´t bother...

There´s another app (PhotoRaw; also a free Lite version) that handles M9 dng´s; only, each image takes several minutes to import and render. The task is just too much for the iPad processor.

[Rick]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

By the new MacAir 11" with the i7 processor and 4GB of ram and 256GB of SSD memory. It is a real computer that can run real programs, not apps, and it screams through the likes of LR3 and CS5. It isn't much bigger or heavier than the iPad, either. When you get back from a shoot, download to a drive using thunderbolt at 20X the speed of USB2.

 

Run your apps on the iPhone and stop toying around with toys.

[Bo_Lorentzen]

Rick, don't be silly - this forum would be of no interest if it was not for toying around with toys.

[Rick]

Hi Bo!

 

You are right. I'm being much to serious!!! I have the iPad ver.1. Although, I don't use it much anymore, it has found a place as the controller for my home theater, thanks to Control4, and that is a fun toy.

 

I guess I am just too intoxicated with the MacAir small notebooks and all that can be done on something about the same size as the iPad. They have become my around the house and out on the road computer, and, my work computer. Not to mention my travel computer and photo previewer while traveling. I am not an Apple fanboy, but I guess I am a MacAir 11inch enthusiast.

 

Rick

 

ps We will make it to SoCal sometime here soon and you are going to get an email so I can see your toys and buy you a coffee, or something stronger, I hope.

[Red Dot Fever]

Dear Ben,

 

Thank you for contacting Nik Software.

 

Currently Snapseed only uses certain workflows already established by Apple in their Operation System. To clarify, once a RAW file is selected to edit in Snapseed, it is automatically converted to a JPEG upon importing the image. The RAW file is never actually available to edit.

 

If you have any further questions, please reply to this email or call our Customer Service Department toll free at 1-888-284-4085 (+1-619-725-3150 outside of the US). Our office hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm PST.

 

Best Regards,

Mani

[Jase]

In June I travelled to Toronto for a couple of weeks so my daughter could see her mum. I chose to take my M8 and IPad with camera connection kit and left my Canon EOS 7D and laptop at home. So a summary of what I found out.

 

The current IOS on the IPAD2 does not recognise ADOBE DNG RAW files. If you shoot RAW only on an M8/9 all you will see is the embedded jpeg which is very small indeed and pixelates at full screen. Effectively you have to shoot JPEG and Fine RAW if you want the RAW files when you get home. The RAW files are still stored on the IPAD you just can't work with them. The other IOS issue is that it does not allow access to the original (in-camera) filename.

 

The closest thing to Lightroom on the IPAD is Filterstorm. You import files from your Ipad photo library to the Filterstorm library and can then perform all the same edits on them that you can in LR.... Curves/graduated filters/Hue/Sat/WB/sharpening/blur/b&w/cloning/tone mapping/remove noise/add noise/red-eye/vignette/exposures/posterize/apply watermarks/use presets (automations) all editing is non-destructive and you can replicate any set of changes as an automation. Issues-wise I find the application of filters cumbersome, you see a graduated mask first instead of the actual effect and I feel the UI could be a little better. Performance wise I had absolutely no issues with the IPAD2 and this application. This is a cool app and although expensive by IPad app standards it is very good and the developer is very responsive. There are also a whole bunch of video tutorials that go with it. The app is integrated with Flickr and you can export your edited file as a batch. I didn't really miss the laptop however I normally keep editing to a minimum until I'm back at home on my serious PC. However, if you can live with jpegs you could quite easily survive indefinitely with just the IPAD2 and a Flickr Pro account.

 

Snapseed is as you would expect very much like using Color Efex Pro in that it is away of applying variations on preset filters but with a different and even easier to use UI. It's not a replacement for LR or on the IPad Filterstorm, it's complimentary. A worthwhile purchase if you like the Nik offerings on desktop hardware.

 

Photogene takes care of all the basic photoediting tasks that are applied to an image globally as well as making a good job of clone/healing. It's very intuitive, the only thing that is missing is an easy way to apply graduated filters. But this is an app forediting an individual photo not a photolibrary app.

 

 

Iris Photo Suite is much like Snapseed, albeit free when I got it from the App Store, again this is predominantly an app for applying presets but also covers global changes such as exposure, hue, saturation etc. This is a good app, especially for free.

 

Photo Toaster is another of the apps in the Snapseed mould. It is exceptionally easy to use and again is very good for applying variations on global presets. Local contrpol on Snapseed is better.

 

PS Express. This is probably the most basic app here and really only good for making the usual global adjustments.

 

I shot RAW plus JPEG fine for the whole trip and backed up on to my 64GB IPad2. I was fine for space on the IPad2 but your mileage may vary, however you can always push your shots straight to Flickr if you want and use that as the backup. I just kept filling SDHC cards and starting on a new one, by the end of the fortnight I'd only used 24GB.

 

In summary I would recommend getting one of the serious editing tools, either Photogene or Filterstorm and using it with, either Photo Toaster or Snapseed with my preference here being Snapseed.

[john_newell]

Thanks. That's as good a summary of iPad photo editing apps as I've seen.

 

In June I travelled to Toronto for a couple of weeks so my daughter could see her mum. I chose to take my M8 and IPad with camera connection kit and left my Canon EOS 7D and laptop at home. So a summary of what I found out.

 

The current IOS on the IPAD2 does not recognise ADOBE DNG RAW files. If you shoot RAW only on an M8/9 all you will see is the embedded jpeg which is very small indeed and pixelates at full screen. Effectively you have to shoot JPEG and Fine RAW if you want the RAW files when you get home. The RAW files are still stored on the IPAD you just can't work with them. The other IOS issue is that it does not allow access to the original (in-camera) filename.

 

The closest thing to Lightroom on the IPAD is Filterstorm. You import files from your Ipad photo library to the Filterstorm library and can then perform all the same edits on them that you can in LR.... Curves/graduated filters/Hue/Sat/WB/sharpening/blur/b&w/cloning/tone mapping/remove noise/add noise/red-eye/vignette/exposures/posterize/apply watermarks/use presets (automations) all editing is non-destructive and you can replicate any set of changes as an automation. Issues-wise I find the application of filters cumbersome, you see a graduated mask first instead of the actual effect and I feel the UI could be a little better. Performance wise I had absolutely no issues with the IPAD2 and this application. This is a cool app and although expensive by IPad app standards it is very good and the developer is very responsive. There are also a whole bunch of video tutorials that go with it. The app is integrated with Flickr and you can export your edited file as a batch. I didn't really miss the laptop however I normally keep editing to a minimum until I'm back at home on my serious PC. However, if you can live with jpegs you could quite easily survive indefinitely with just the IPAD2 and a Flickr Pro account.

 

Snapseed is as you would expect very much like using Color Efex Pro in that it is away of applying variations on preset filters but with a different and even easier to use UI. It's not a replacement for LR or on the IPad Filterstorm, it's complimentary. A worthwhile purchase if you like the Nik offerings on desktop hardware.

 

Photogene takes care of all the basic photoediting tasks that are applied to an image globally as well as making a good job of clone/healing. It's very intuitive, the only thing that is missing is an easy way to apply graduated filters. But this is an app forediting an individual photo not a photolibrary app.

 

 

Iris Photo Suite is much like Snapseed, albeit free when I got it from the App Store, again this is predominantly an app for applying presets but also covers global changes such as exposure, hue, saturation etc. This is a good app, especially for free.

 

Photo Toaster is another of the apps in the Snapseed mould. It is exceptionally easy to use and again is very good for applying variations on global presets. Local contrpol on Snapseed is better.

 

PS Express. This is probably the most basic app here and really only good for making the usual global adjustments.

 

I shot RAW plus JPEG fine for the whole trip and backed up on to my 64GB IPad2. I was fine for space on the IPad2 but your mileage may vary, however you can always push your shots straight to Flickr if you want and use that as the backup. I just kept filling SDHC cards and starting on a new one, by the end of the fortnight I'd only used 24GB.

 

In summary I would recommend getting one of the serious editing tools, either Photogene or Filterstorm and using it with, either Photo Toaster or Snapseed with my preference here being Snapseed.